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Egbe-Agbor, Charles (2021) Deconstructing the mole: a sociological narrative study that explores the mole concept experiences of science students and lecturers, in the context of social justice. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
The mole concept like mathematics has both an abstract and a concrete element, but unfortunately the abstract element pre-dominates the teaching and learning, which poses difficulties to both learners and instructors. These difficulties disproportionately affect learners from low socio-economic backgrounds. The aim of this study is to investigate the mole concept from a sociological standpoint, by exploring the teaching and learning experiences of science students and lecturers, in the context of social justice. The study views the mole as a socially constructed science currency, and thus involved the deconstruction of all its aspects, in order to uncover inequalities embedded within its instruction methods including assessment. Twenty-five science students and three lecturers from London Metropolitan University responded to the questionnaire, which was also used as a recruitment tool. Nine students (5 in a focus group & 4 in a one-to-one) and three lecturers took part in narrative interviews designed to capture their experiences. The students ranged from foundation/access course, BSc to PhD, in subjects such as chemistry, biomedical, forensics, sports therapy, biology, human nutrition, cancer immunotherapy & pharmaceutical sciences. The three lecturers were all academic doctors with varying mole concept lecturing experiences, including post-doctoral work at Manchester, Oxford and Open Universities respectively. Narrative interviews transcripts were analysed through Bourdieuran prism, using an experienced based thematic approach. Four themes were identified: First degree socialisation (primary habitus), Second degree socialisation (secondary habitus), Field operators (actors’ input) & Mole conceptual and procedural experiences. The findings indicate that, students from lower-class background find the difficulties pose by the mole concept, much more challenging than the higher-class students. The higher-class learners are better equipped to deal with mole related difficulties because of their superior social context, which also includes the fact that, they had experienced the mole far earlier in their academic carriers, than lower-class students. This study recommends the conceptual teaching and learning of the mole in schools (primary, KS2 or 2nd grade), in tandem with the teaching of the other SI units of measurement (Meter (m) for length, kilogram (kg) for mass, second (s) for time). This will increase mole prior knowledge of all the learners, which is crucial for a broad and balanced science curriculum.
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